Chapter 25: Truck-Kun Life Crisis

  It had been about three hours since Abeona had driven Wheeler away from the scene where Eve had perished. Once he was out of danger, the goddess had parked him somewhere outside of the city, then relinquished her control.

  Since then Wheeler simply sat as rain poured from the formerly clear night sky. He had been silent and still. Not a word said to Abeona. Not a rumble from his engine or a flick of his windscreen wipers. The rain simply being allowed to flow down his windscreen like tears.

  “Wheeler, are you ready to talk yet?” Abeona asked him gently, but she received no reply.

  Eve, who herself had also just been sitting quietly next to Abeona, was also currently deep in thought. Processing the full ramifications of both her death, and the unusual circumstances surrounding it.

  With the chaos of everything that had happened at the construction site, Eve hadn’t really had time to really think about any of it. Only now, in these last few hours of quiet, had she truly had any room for contemplation.

  She was dead. Her best friend, who almost died in her place, was heartbroken. Eve’s own soul may very well have shattered if she kept thinking about everything she’d lost.

  After taking a deep breath, Eve whispered to herself. You can’t go back. So keep moving forward,” she whispered to herself.

  This goddess, ‘Abeona’, had promised to send Eve on an epic adventure. She told Eve that her “death” wasn’t actually the end, but a fresh start. On its face, her whole situation sounded completely insane.

  Eve would have scarcely believed it, had she not been experiencing all this first hand.

  While there had been a lot to get her head around, Eve was finally ready to take her first steps into the new life in a new world that she’d been promised.

  This was a new beginning, then Eve was absolutely ready to begin.

  After all, hadn’t the goddess promised her a new life full of adventure? So far all Eve had done is sit around in what felt like limbo. The white glowing room might as well have been the afterlife equivalent of a waiting room.

  Eve turned to Abeona, who was still trying to reach out to Wheeler. She then asked the goddess, point blank. “So, when do I get to go to this ‘EEE-Sec-Eye’ world you promised me?”

  “Oh right, of course, sorry Eve, I’ll send you right away.” Abeona stuttered, hesitantly putting aside the tablet she’d been using to communicate with Wheeler.

  Eve started bouncing up and down excitedly like a child on Christmas. “This is gonna be epic, I can feel it, I wonder what cool monsters I’ll get to face? Bring em on, I’ll dodge them all!”

  “It’s nice to see you’re so enthusiastic but would you mind holding still?” Abeona asked with a sigh. “I need to place my hand on your head for the transportation spell.”

  “Sorry, I’ll do my best, but I’m so EXCITED!” Eve beamed, brimming with energy. Although she couldn’t help but notice the goddess kept glancing away.

  “I’d really appreciate it if you DON’T dodge me. I don’t wanna end up falling on my face again.” As Abeona spoke, the goddess seemed somewhat distracted.

  Even the normally oblivious Eve, couldn’t help but notice Abeona kept looking over at the tablet she had set down earlier, rather than focusing on Eve herself.

  “I’m sorry, do you have something more important you’d rather be doing?” Eve scoffed in offense. “Am I not worth your attention all of the sudden?”

  Abeona snapped out of her haze. “I’m really sorry Eve, it’s not you it's...” as Abeona trailed off, she cast another look towards her tablet.

  Following the goddess’s eyeline, Eve noticed the tablet’s video feed had been switched on. There was no movement beyond the falling raindrops, but two sounds could now be heard. One was the rain, the other was the sound of someone crying. At the very top of the display, there was a nametag that read, “Truck-Kun (Wheeler).”

  Eve’s expression softened as she realised why Abeona was so distracted. The look in the goddess’s eyes was uncomfortably familiar.

  “You’re worried about your friend aren’t you?” Eve asked carefully.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “He’s not so much my friend as my subordinate,” Abeona snapped, before her voice dropped to a more solemn tone. “But yeah, I’m worried about him.” She admitted.

  “Would it help if I talked to him?” Eve suggested. “Maybe I can give him a pep talk? I used to give ones to my dodgeball teammates before matches.”

  “I guess it’s worth a shot.” Abeona reasoned. “After this, I promise to send you right on to the other World.” She promised Eve. “You have my word as the Goddess of Outward Journeys.”

  With that Abeona retrieved her tablet and passed it to Eve. “Just talk into this and Wheeler should be able to hear you.” The goddess clarified

  Meanwhile Wheeler, in his truck body, was still being tortured internally by guilt and the reality of what transporting Eve really entailed. While he had once more turned off his haptic feedback, couldn’t switch off his emotions.

  From the outside, all an observer would see is a regular truck, parked quietly at the side of the road, possibly abandoned. At this moment, Wheeler gave no external signs of life.

  Yet despite externally appearing as an ordinary truck, internally Wheeler was still very much still human. A person who was aware of the pain his actions had caused. Even when he’d tried to make up for it, he’d only made things worse.

  He’d killed Eve, then unintentionally toyed with the emotions of her grieving friend. Abeona had made it sound simple, like Eve was simply hitching a ride to a new life. Wheeler was realising reality was anything but.

  As he heard the goddess’s voice call out to him, Wheeler simply ignored it. She was the last person he wanted to talk to right now. She’d just insist on sending him straight to the next ‘mission’ no doubt.

  Suddenly in the dark quagmire that had seized Wheeler’s mind, a different voice called out to him.

  “Hey, You’re name is Wheeler right? I need to have a chat with you.”

  “Was that... Eve voice?” Wheeler wondered.

  “Listen, since you ran me over, I think you at least owe me a little chat, am I right?” Eve called out to him. “So if you feel bad because of what you did, talk to me.”

  Eve was right. Wheeler wasn’t sure there was anything he could say to make this right, but he owed it to her to at least try.

  “Eve, I’m so sorry.” Wheeler’s voice finally came crackling back through the speaker of Abeona’s tablet.

  “For...?” Eve asked expectantly.

  “For killing you.” Wheeler replied, his voice filled with regret.

  Eve gave an indifferent shrug. “Eh, I’ll live.”

  “No you won’t.” Wheeler protested. “That’s, kind of how dying works.”

  “Except it isn’t, not in my case. Abeona already explained everything to me, I’m getting an... Isekai I think she called it?” Eve sounded surprisingly upbeat for someone who was technically dead.

  “Yes, that right.” Wheeler confirmed. In his distress, he’d almost completely forgotten the whole reason he agreed to go along with this Truck-Kun situation. This wasn’t about death, Project Isekai was about rebirth.

  “I always believed we only live once,” Eve said a little too cheerfully. “But thanks to you, I’m getting to live twice.”

  Wheeler paused for a moment, Eve’s reassurance had soothed his conscience somewhat. If Eve was at peace with the situation, that’s ultimately what mattered.

  Yet, Wheeler couldn’t help feel that the young woman seemed a little too at ease with the situation. That perhaps Eve was trying to convince not just Wheeler, but herself too.

  “What about your friend, Lily wasn’t it?” Wheeler asked, “I wasn’t able to help you deliver your final message, in fact I’m pretty sure my attempt to do so ended up making things worse.”

  For the first time in there conversation, Eve’s voice began to quaver slightly. “Thank you for trying, it just... wasn’t meant to be, I guess.” Once Eve finished speaking, Wheeler heard her taking a long sighing breath. After that, an awkward silence fell over the conversation.

  As she thought of Lily, Eve wished she didn’t have to leave her bestie behind. Although in retrospect, Eve’s secret keeping and thrill seeking had almost got Lily killed. Eve considered the possibility that Lily might actually be better off without her. Still Eve couldn’t help but worry about her bestie.

  After spending a few minutes lost in her thoughts, Eve spoke up again. “Wheeler, you wouldn’t mind doing me one final favour, would you?” Eve asked quietly.

  Wheeler responded without hesitation, “Of course Eve, just name it.”

  “Keep an eye on Lily for me.” Eve requested. “I know she’s a strong person...”

  “Yes, I’ve got two broken headlights and a ton of dents that can attest to that.” Wheeler interrupted dryly.

  After letting out a small chuckle, Eve continued, “Could you just check in on her every now and then? Just to make sure she’s ok?”

  “Consider it done.” Wheeler reassured her, almost instinctively. He hadn’t really thought of the logistics of this promise, it was one Wheeler fully intended to keep.

  “Thanks.” Eve replied. Wheeler could almost hear her smile broadcasting over the communication channel, even if he couldn’t see it.

  “The only question left is...” Eve’s voice became laced with mischief. “What do these buttons do?” Eve giggled as she began pressing some of the icons on Abeona’s tablet.

  As Eve did, the mini Abeona figure on Wheeler’s rear view mirror sprang to life. It began to perform a series of very Eve like movements as it rolled and flipped around Wheeler’s cabin.

  Despite himself, Wheeler couldn’t help but laugh as Eve made the mini Abeona charm dance across his dashboard.

  “HEY THAT’S NOT A TOY YOU KNOW! I DIDN’T SAY YOU COULD PLAY WITH MY CHARM FIGURE.” Abeona yelled at Eve before snatching the tablet away from her.

  Overhearing Abeona’s panicked reaction only made Wheeler laugh even harder.

  After recovering her tablet from Eve, Abeona pressed a button onscreen, which made her charm return to it’s usual perch on Wheeler’s rear view mirror. She then pressed another button, muting her tablet to avoid any interruptions as she prepared to transport Eve

  Turning to Eve, Abeona quickly went about regaining control of the situation “Thanks for helping Wheeler with his Truck-Kun life crisis,” the goddess said. “Now we should really get on with sending you to your new life.”

  Eve began to pump her fists enthusiastically. “Oh Yeah! Finally!” she cheered. “Let’s get this show on the road! Watch out other world, ready or not, Eve Adenson is coming.”